Unspeakable Blues
by Gensomaden-Saiyuki
Summary: Sometimes life doesn't offer a bed of roses, but love does offer roses for two people in love. A collection of oneshots I made that can be read separately. Ch.1 NejiTen. Ch.2 ShikaIno. Ch.3 NaruHina. Ch.4 SasuSaku. COMPLETE
1. NejiTen

**_DISCLAIMER:_ I do not own Naruto. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto-sama. I'm contented with making fanfictions of Naruto, PERIOD.

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**_SPECIAL DEDICATION:_ I just want to dedicate this NejiTen oneshot to my good friend, mana-blue, for the fantastic chats that keep me out of boredom, for sharing her ideas with me, and for allowing me to share my ideas to her, for the times when we allow ourselves to bash people who we hate in our private talks and actually, for a lot of things. Keep writing! Wag kang mag-alala, marami pang mga lalake diyan, atsaka bata ka pa noh, live life to the fullest muna, ayos?**

**_PLUG IN:_ Please read mana-blue's fics! Most especially if you're Pinoy, I recommend you to read mana-blue's "Nang Dahil Sa Hula", it's a NejiTenSasu (and NaruHina) fic, told in the Filipino language, fused with tons of humor!

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------------ Unspeakable Blues Segment 1 out of 4: ------------

**Another Rainy Day**  
**By: Gensomaden-Saiyuki**  
_Neji x Tenten

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It had been raining for 3 days in a row. Yet, he insisted that she should spar with him under the rain. Since he was usually hardheaded, she can't refuse. Of course, he won't take 'no' for an answer.

Today's rain was harder than yesterday's downpour or the other day's. The dark clouds wiped away the afternoon sunshine, like it was never going back up tomorrow. Hmm, last night, she could remember, it was raining before she drifted off to sleepy dreamland and when she woke up, it was still raining. When he phoned her up telling her that he was leaving the mansion and he was going to see her at their training area, it was raining.

She sighed as she twirled her fingers in her long brown wavy wet hair. She covered her mouth to sneeze and she could just stare at the heavy downpour outside the huge windows, adorned with semi-transparent white curtains. Her face had a feverish tinge of red and her head seemed like it was going to snap in two because of the splitting, hot headache.

She had her feet soaked in a basin of lukewarm water and the maids told her to strip off and they'll dry her clothes. They gave her a white robe and some blankets, too, to warm up. She had pulled off the ties that kept her brown hair buns intact a while ago, since it might not be a good idea to dry off with those things still intact, since they're still going to be wet even afterwards.

She had her robe on and three blankets on top of another as she held these dearly close to her freezing body. Well, it was too much to take for another rainy day.

She had an intense training with him just before she sneezed in the rain. She blushed as she remembered that.

He had promised her that after ten minutes, they'll go home. She agreed anyway, since AGAIN, he won't take 'no' for an answer. She threw her last batch of weapons at him and he evaded them all with ease. He ran at full speed towards her, when she suddenly made the timeout sign with her hands and automatically, in a split second, they were seen covering her nose and her mouth, and let out a rather cute, yet loud sneeze. When she removed her hands, a small tinge of red was evident on her nose; also, faint tinges of feverish blushes were painted on her cheeks. He raised an eyebrow at her when she said she was ready. That's when he finally realized that she already caught colds and fever.

He said he'll take her to his place, since his was closer than hers and it was starting to rain heavily. She said she was going to her place and she can handle it herself… She let out another cute sneeze and he crossed his arms, his colorless eyes telling her to go with him already. She sheepishly grinned and said she was fine, but a chain of sneezes were triggered.

Sighing, he picked her up bridal style and she asked him what was he doing and where was he taking her. He just eyed her, signaling that she should just stay put and hold on tight. She locked her arms around his nape as he leapt from tree to tree and roof to roof to get to his place.

When they got there, he laid her down on a bed in a vacant room and told the maids to take care of her. He'll visit her as soon as he dried himself.

And so far, that's how she got there.

She sighed, remembering the very 'out of character' thing he did. She swore that maybe, today, hell has frozen over because of his rather, kind act. Knowing him perhaps better than anyone else in town, he was stern, cruel, emotionless and a perfectionist. Yet, he showed a concerned side of him only to her. Those made question marks grow bigger as she thought about that one.

She heard a knock on the door.

"Come in." she permitted.

And in came her partner, and we can say, her 'best friend'. He was now freshened up, his long hair dried and was freed of the bond that was known to conceal the elegance of his silky soft mane, and he was wearing the clan's traditional robe, since he was grown up enough to wear one. Oh, and he was bringing a steaming mug of cocoa for her.

She only looked over her shoulder to see who was it and saw it was her teammate. He sat beside her as he let her stay in this vacant room. He said she can leave tomorrow morning and yes, to her favor, at least for once, no sparring for the rest of the day tomorrow.

He gave the hot beverage to her and while she sipped the hot liquid little by little, he gently placed his hand on her forehead, to try and feel her temperature. He withdrew it and his deep, masculine voice echoed in her ears, "Feeling fine?"

She placed the mug on the bedside table and looked at him, "Although I don't look like I'm feeling any better, yes, I'm fine."

He raised an eyebrow at that reply. Was the fever getting into her brain too?

"Are you sure you don't want to spar tomorrow?" she asked.

"I meant what I said." He sighed as he stared at the rainy outdoors, "You have to rest for the whole day tomorrow. I'll visit you perhaps."

"How come I was the only one who got sick?"

"It's just that my body resistance is stronger than yours."

"Well, but I learned a new handseal today. It can stop one attack from you."

"And may I know, what is that?" he asked in his proud monotonous tone, smirking slightly as he turned his gaze to her.

The surname-less kunoichi named Tenten sheepishly grinned as she made the timeout sign, "The handseal's named 'timeout' and doing this one is effective when Hyuuga Neji is attacking you under the heavy rain. It gives you the ability to perform the 'Sneeze no Jutsu' that will confuse your opponents, hah!"

Neji smiled at his mature, yet naïve teammate, "Hmm, for once, I'm impressed."

"Eh?" she tilted her head a bit, looking at him with disconcert.

"That specialized jutsu of yours **did** stop me."

"I'm getting better!" she replied childishly, proud of her new 'jutsu'.

"Too bad it works only under an intense downpour of rain." Neji's smile withdrew to its usually stoic state, "And the side effect of that jutsu is uhm…"

He eyed her and smirked, "Sickly."

"Hmm, yeah… I kinda thought of that." Tenten shrugged her shoulders, "But if I didn't do that, I might've done worse."

"And what is that?"

"See, you were lunging towards me at that time and if I hadn't done that, then I would've sneezed on your face, which might've made led you to a conclusion that I insulted you or something like that." Tenten pointed out, "And the worse part is that you'll get colds, too."

Neji's face twitched a bit, as he imagined Tenten uncontrollably sneezing on his face, helpless after he lunged at her. Yes, he found that insulting and err… disgusting.

She saw her teammate's face twitch at that moment and she let out a soft laugh.

"What's so funny?" The Hyuuga prodigy asked.

"Nothing." She regained herself, her lips tugging to a smile, "Moments like these are priceless."

After a second that she had said that, Neji had claimed her lips with his. And he gently pulled away from her, a content smile evident on his handsome face. She was a bit taken by surprise with what he did.

He stood up and pecked her forehead, "Now you better rest. I don't want my fiancée to be sick, remember, our wedding's next week."

She just nodded at him. He told her before he closed the door, "I'll just bring your dinner here in your room later. Get some sleep, Tenten. I love you."

"Okay, Neji." She replied, "I love you, too."

She looked outside and contently smiled. Then, she looked at the silver-band ring with petal-shaped diamonds adorning the pearl at the center on her left hand's ring finger.

Finally, **the day** she was waiting for will come to her and her lover next week, after a year-long engagement to him.

Yes, pretty soon, she was not going to be the surname-less Weapons Mistress of Konoha named Tenten. She will be a proud **Hyuuga Tenten**, the wife, the chosen one of the great Hyuuga Neji.

Well, it didn't seem like another rainy day anymore. It was an extravagant another rainy day. The soon-to-be Hyuuga was really happy, and was looking forward to her convalescence… not to mention her wedding next week.

However, as Neji was walking to his room, he suddenly sneezed, his hands immediately flying to his mouth and nose, "Oh no…"

Yes, with the kiss he stole from his fiancée earlier, he was contaminated with the same colds that she had.

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_Next on Unspeakable Blues:_

**There are a lot of things in life we tend to be lazy of. However, Yamanaka Ino thinks she had been punished by the gods by giving her a super lazy teammate and an 'amazingly plump' teammate. She never thought that she would fall for Nara Shikamaru… and she really fell… HARD. Ouch.**

**Unspeakable Blues Segment 2 of 4: _Lazy Love_ **_(Shikamaru x Ino)_

"_**WHAT A MESS!"**_  
**-Yamanaka Ino**


	2. ShikaIno

**_DISCLAIMER:_ I do not own Naruto. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto-sama. I'm contented with making fanfictions of Naruto, PERIOD.**

**_AUTHOR'S NOTES:_ This is my first ShikaIno centered oneshot. I really specialize or focus more on NejiTen and SasuSaku. But this is just a try… And for my first, I will use comedy, so as not to damage any characters' personalities. And I really hoped I pulled it off.

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------------ Unspeakable Blues Segment 2 out of 4: ------------

**Lazy Love**  
**By: Gensomaden-Saiyuki**  
_Shikamaru x Ino

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She had thought she had been plummeted down by the heavens with so much anger that they have to fate her with such bizarre teammates. Maybe the gods were angry at her because she was too whimsical, too girly, too much of a complainer, too LOUD and too much to handle. Blessing her with a lazy butt and troublesome teammate, whose lines would never forget the word 'troublesome' and another 'stunningly plump' teammate; can she grow up with any progress at all?

Well, if it hadn't been her father's teachings, then she wouldn't be a jounin now. Thanks to the Yamanaka jutsus, she was able to pass the chuunin exams when she was 15 and was promoted to jounin somewhere in her early twenties.

She was an assistant of the Hokage with handing out missions to the genin teams. So she was mostly busy due to intense paperwork and regular reports to the Hokage's office about different genin teams' progresses on their missions. She was still the Yamanaka heiress, so in her days off and during her free time, she travels down to the humble flower shop and helps around.

Well, maybe thanks to her manipulative wits and stamina, which she most likely inherited from her dad, then we can conclude that as soon as she landed a position in the Hokage's office, she had been amazingly improving. She wasn't timid like her lazy bum pineapple-haired teammate and she wasn't 'stunningly plump' like her other, err, 'stunningly plump' teammate.

But today, Sarutobi Asuma insisted that Nara Shikamaru should help around the Yamanaka Flower Shop. He said that since there were no classes in the Ninja Academy today, because the Godaime Hokage and her assistants, Shizune and Haruno Sakura are inspecting the school's cafeteria, lecturing them about mushrooms due to the poisoned mushroom incident, he should just be of use to his teammates and help around. Yes, believe it or not, Shikamaru is a Ninja Academy teacher.

Yamanaka Ino wondered how come Chouji won't be there to help around, too. Her sensei just told her that Chouji is in a mission with Inuzuka Kiba, the dog lover, and Aburame Shino, the bug lover. Oh great, so they have Akimichi Chouji, the potato chips lover, hoo-hah! What a **lovely** team!

Not.

Well, at least to the blonde-haired woman.

"What do you do here anyway?" her lazy bum teammate asked as he stood beside her on the cash registrar desk, putting an apron over his neat jounin uniform.

"Watch the shop." Ino replied, "Something a troublesome person like you can handle."

"Isn't that supposed to be my line?" he scratched his head.

"Whatever, I'm going to water the plants." Ino rolled her eyes as she went to the back aisle to grab the hand sprinkler.

"How troublesome!" Shikamaru sighed.

But deep down inside, she was really happy that he was there with her. In her mind, she had been jumping up and down for glorious joy. She ditched her infatuation with a certain raven-haired missing nin and had been secretly infatuated to this pineapple-haired jounin.

Shikamaru was handsome and cute, well at least to Ino. Hah! She wasn't going to hand him over to a blonde-haired Suna jounin! She wasn't going to back out, like she never did to Sakura when she was still dreaming about Uchiha Sasuke.

She swore she had nosebleeds as she remembered Shikamaru shirtless when they were camping out during a mission. Well, they got caught in the rain and he had to dry off. Of course, being the only female in the team, she gets to use the tent as her dressing room. The boys' dressing room is the outdoors, hey; they're all boys, right? It would have been embarrassing if she shared their 'dressing room', hehe.

When she finished dressing up, she was wondering if the boys are, too. So she asked them from inside the tent and they replied to her call anyway. She opened the tent and she saw Chouji wearing a set of extra clothes and her Asuma-sensei was wearing a black shirt and a pair of black jogging pants, and last but not least… Shikamaru was wearing a pair of cargo shorts and no shirt! Yes! Ino swore she had been somehow drooling, well, at least her mind thought so. Shikamaru asked Ino what was she looking at and she screamed her usual high-pitched reply, asking if he had a problem if she wants to glare at him with a killer instinct. Shikamaru pushed her aside in the tent, since she was blocking the entrance.

She asked why'd he do that and he answered that she was troublesome and blocking the entrance to the tent. He began searching his bag for something and she asked what he was looking for. He told her he forgot to bring out his shirt when they were dressing up. So he got a fishnet shirt and wore it and he also brought out a… hairbrush?

Yes, a hairbrush! Shikamaru removed his spiky ponytail from its bonds and began brushing his hair, which reached his jaw line. The ends of the hair were spiky, so that's why when he ties it up, he looks like he has pineapple leaves painted in black on top of his head. And that was the first time Ino saw Shikamaru shirtless and had his hair down.

Ah, she was being nostalgic… To her, that toned chest and those fabulous abs, those chiseled arms… ah… yes, Shikamaru was macho, well, at least to her.

Then she began thinking that Shikamaru was in good terms with Temari of the Sand. And there was certainly no way she was going to hand him over to her! Hah, never!

"Ino!" Shikamaru called as his teammate was daydreaming.

She was still lost in her dreamland as she was thinking about that man she had been secretly infatuated to.

Ino felt someone shaking her shoulders and yelling at her face, "INO!"

"WHAAAAAAAAAT!" she screamed in her girly voice.

"You're drowning the plants!" Shikamaru pointed to the blue roses she had been watering, its soil bed was overflowing with water, and now the soil was spilling over the tiled floors, making a runny muddy mess.

She shrieked, giving the almost empty hand sprinkler to Shikamaru and she ran towards the back aisle, but she stepped on the mess, and she slipped, causing her to fall. But when she did, she felt that someone was under her and his arms were on her waist, cushioning her fall.

She immediately stood up and the first thing she saw was her clothes were all muddy and her long hair, which was tied up in its usual high ponytail, also caught some mud. Then she looked at the person on the floor shaking his head and rubbing his back as he sat up. He was muddier than her. Mud was splashed all over his apron and he also had some of the mud on his face, his arms, his neck, and on his pants. When he sat up, his back was dripping with the runny mud.

"Uhm, ouch?" Ino scratched her cheek.

"Ouch indeed." Shikamaru replied as he continued to rub his aching back, due to the hard fall, "Next time, watch where you're going. Be thankful I caught your fall."

"Shikamaru, where did the hand sprinkler go?" Ino asked.

"And you're even more concerned with the hand sprinkler than suffering little me!" Shikamaru tried to remove the mud off his face but just worsened it, smearing it wider: "How troublesome!"

Ino caught sight of the hand sprinkler across the room, on the floor near the cash registrar desk, making a pool of water.

She placed her hands on both sides of her head while her eyes widened at the chaos she caused because of her silly daydreaming about Nara Shikamaru.

Then, Shikamaru slowly stood up, his back and his spiky hair dripping with mud.

He was staring at her, "Okay, so I know you're panicking now. So just… just calm down."

He's not even related to the Yamanaka family, although socially, his dad and her dad are good friends. And even though he's just socially related to the Yamanaka family, he knows how to do things better than the Yamanaka heiress.

There was a moment of silence.

… Only to be broken by Ino's loud screeching.

"WHAT A MESS!" she shouted, panicking.

"Calm down Ino!" Shikamaru shouted back.

Ino made childish whines, groans and sounds, stomping on the floor loudly.

"Go get two pails, fill one with water, and leave the other empty. Also, get some sponges, soap and towels." Shikamaru just stated, sighing.

Ino just nodded as she dragged herself to the back aisle and after a few minutes she got back with what he asked her to bring. She watched as Shikamaru grabbed a towel and wiped his face with it.

"Well, that's why I wanted you to bring the towels." He told her, "Before we clean this troublesome mess, we should clean ourselves first."

She nodded and cleaned herself up, and so did he. They piled the dirty towels neatly on a bench and started cleaning up the mess.

"What the hell were you doing anyway?" Shikamaru asked as he grabbed a sponge and crouched on the muddy floor, trying to remove the runny mud first before he would plan on scrubbing it.

Ino grabbed a sponge and attended to the hand sprinkler spill near the cash registrar desk and cleaned up the mess too, "I was thinking!"

"You? Thinking!" Shikamaru chuckled, "How come you weren't able to think properly when you slipped?"

Ino blushed at that comment and snubbed him, squeezing the sponge to pour the contents into the empty pail. Afterwards, she continued to clean up the minor spill. Well, Shikamaru should be doing that job. He was just forced to stay there by Asuma, right?

But it just felt fine with them if they were doing these things. It was err… amusing. Well, to Shikamaru that is. Even though she might've broken a few bones in his system because he caught her fall, there were still plenty of other bones that weren't broken, right? And else, he had the time of his life since probably; her slip might probably land on the most hilarious and most embarrassing ones in history.

Shikamaru finished removing the runny mud on the floor, but of course, there are those stubborn muddy stains on the floor. He squeezed the runny mud from the sponge and into the empty pail. He reached for the powdered soap sachet and poured all its contents into the pail with clean water. He moved his hand in a clockwise motion in the soapy water until bubbles appeared. He then dipped his dirty sponge there and began scrubbing the muddy floor.

Ino had finally dried the floor on her side and decided to help out Shikamaru, since it was **her** fault anyway. So, she began scrubbing the tiled floor with him.

They were in front of each other, silently scrubbing the dirty floor and then…

BUMP.

The two's heads collided with each other, then both leaned forward to see what hit them but the next thing they knew was their lips were pressing each other already. The two of them didn't realize that for 5 seconds. Afterwards, their eyes went as wide as saucers, okay, ditch that, plates… err, how about platters? It was only then when they pulled out from the unexpected first kiss. Yes, both just had each other's first kisses.

If there were a hundred hues of red, even thousands and millions, hah! Ino's blush was redder than all of those hues! Shikamaru, of course, blushed but not as much as Ino did.

"Sorry." The two said simultaneously in a shy tone.

Then, they snapped back into their little old selves and then…

"WATCH WHO YOU'RE BUMPING ONTO!" mysteriously enough, they both said this at the same time.

"WHAT! **YOU** WATCH WHERE **YOU'RE** GOING!" there it goes again: simultaneous.

"NO WAY!"

"STOP IT!"

"NO, **YOU** STOP!"

"DAMN IT!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"NOTHING!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN NOTHING!"

"**JUST STOP!**"

After that awkward happenstance of having the same lines, they just both sat there, catching their breaths after yelling at each other, possibly scaring the beautiful blossoms in the shop.

Then, they both fell silent. Then, they both laughed, realizing how much trouble they put each other into.

They both shook their heads and continued to cleaning the mess, which was almost done.

"Hey Ino, are you going to do something tonight?" Shikamaru asked.

"None, why?" Ino raised an eyebrow at him.

"Great! Can I take you out… on a date?" a slight tinge of red was visible on the 200-I.Q. ninja's cheeks.

Ino nodded and glomped Shikamaru, pinning him on the floor again, "Gladly!"

Shikamaru complained, "How troublesome! Ino, get off of me! Stop it! ACK! Ino, my back hurts! **INOOOOOOO!**"  
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_Next on Unspeakable Blues:_

**It's not bad to be shy of everything – that was how Hyuuga Hinata lived her life. Now that she handles 3 pesky students, formerly handled by the upcoming Rokudaime Hokage, who is Uzumaki Naruto, it seems like she now knows how to spell trouble… but she spelled it backwards when something she and her students planned goes terribly and hilariously wrong.**

**Unspeakable Blues Segment 3 of 4: _Of Eating Noodles_ **_(Naruto x Hinata)_

"_**MORE BEEF RAMEN PLEASE!"**_  
**-Uzumaki Naruto**


	3. NaruHina

**_DISCLAIMER:_ I do not own Naruto. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto-sama. I'm contented with making fanfictions of Naruto, PERIOD.**

**_AUTHOR'S NOTES:_ This is my first NaruHina centered oneshot. Like what I said before: I specialize or focus more on NejiTen and SasuSaku. And like the previous chapter, I used comedy on this one, so as not to damage any characters' personalities… Did I pull it off?

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**_SPECIAL DEDICATIONS:_ I just want to dedicate this to my "brother", Aikuchi Shikaku and to my "sister-in-law" (BWAHAHAHA!) Eva-oneechan, who is the love of Aikuchi Shikaku.**

**_Most especially to Aikuchi Shikaku:_ for helping me out in the major turning points of Homebound, which is quite a hit now. I couldn't have done it without you. Also, take this as an apology gift for not helping out much in your fics. But I promise I'll help out in your Hyuuga Naruto and with other fics you would want me to help you out with.**

**_Most especially to Eva-oneechan:_ I know there's this little feud in between us, just because of something I said way back then that you took seriously. I never really expected that your reaction would turn out that way, so take this as an apology gift. Oh and don't worry, I won't mention the name of my dog-loving onichan anymore when you're around. XD**

**_To the both of them:_ This is most especially dedicated to the both of you; please accept this as a late anniversary gift for the two of you from me.

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**_PLUG IN:_ Please read Aikuchi Shikaku's fics, most especially Balance of Three: Three Doujutsu, for you to see the Naruto storyline told in a totally new perspective.

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------------ Unspeakable Blues Segment 3 out of 4: ------------

**Of Eating Noodles**  
**By: Gensomaden-Saiyuki**  
_Naruto x Hinata

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It never occurred to her that her students have been bothering her a lot lately. Those three have been teasing her with their previous sensei, who was now well on the way of being a Hokage.

Her students' original sensei was Ebisu, but when he decided that someone could make a better role model, he turned over the handling of those three to the blonde-haired jounin, who then turned over the handling to the Hyuuga heiress.

She was even delighted, as far as she could remember… when the spiky blonde-haired man approached her and asked her if she could take care of his students while he studies and prepares to be a Hokage. She shyly agreed, after all, this was still the same person she so loved, she so admired even in her younger days.

"Hinata-sensei!" Konohamaru called, "Udon, Moegi and I were thinking…"

Hinata was seated on a log, watching his students… err, her students spar with each other.

Konohamaru sweatdropped as he figured out that his sensei was looking at her feet, thinking of something. He called her attention, "Oi, Hinata-sensei!"

Hinata blushed a little and snapped her head a bit to turn to the teenage boy in front of her, "Oh… K-Konohamaru… W-Wh-What is i-it?"

"Were you thinking of something?" Konohamaru teased, "… Or rather, **someone**?"

"Ehhhh!" Hinata blushed all the more, "W-What m-made you s-say that!"

"Hinata-sensei, you're blushing!" Moegi approached Hinata, Udon tailing her.

Immediately, an automatic typical reflex followed when she blushed: her hands flew to her warmed cheeks.

Hinata giggled nervously, "Ehehe… I'm n-not…"

"Oh well, whatever you say, Hinata-sensei…" Konohamaru removed his forehead protector to wipe off the dust on it using his sleeves, "As I was saying… Udon, Moegi and I thought of something lately."

"Eh?" Hinata tucked a stray strand of her now, long dark hair behind her ear, "And w-what w-were you kids t-th-thinking lately?"

Her three students grinned devilishly as they said in unison: "WE WILL AMBUSH NARUTO-SENSEI!"

"EHHHHH!" Hinata suddenly stood up, a sweat trickling from her forehead, down to the tip of her chin.

Konohamaru scratched the back of his head after he tied his forehead protector back in place as he looked at his female jounin master, "What?"

"What d-do you m-mean 'what'!" the older woman reasoned, "N-Naruto-kun i-is busy n-nowadays! R-Remember! H-He is t-the Rokudaime soon! S-So he's b-busy preparing!"

A moment of silence deafened their ears. Until…

"Not in his office, Hinata-sensei!" Konohamaru pointed to the clearing, the exit of their training grounds, "THERE!"

"Huh? Where?" Hinata looked at the direction where he was pointing.

Moegi and Udon pointed to the direction where Konohamaru had been pointing, "THERE!"

Hinata took a few steps to see where they were pointing and saw the oh-so familiar and dear place to Naruto. Hmm… Maybe when he indeed becomes Hokage, he might make that place a must-go-to tourist spot. Maybe he'll build a shrine to honor it, since it seemed like the place was already sacred to him.

You still don't know what place that is?

Oh well, whatever…

"THE ICHIRAKU RAMEN STAND!" the trio replied.

Oh boy. She's going to take part in the perfect recipe for disaster now? Hmm… What would Naruto do anyway if his students really loved involving other people into trouble?

That's right; he'll take part in the troublemaking! HAH! Not even Spiderman or Superman can beat out the likes of his! Oh hell, Satan, Lucifer, Apocalypse, Magneto, The Green Goblin, The Joker, The Penguin, Judas Iscariot, Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Dr. Oc, Achilles, Agamemnon, Menelaus, Poseidon, Hades, Ares, Eris, Hera, Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden, Ferdinand Marcos, HECK, ALL THE VILLAINS IN THIS WORLD WOULD BE JEALOUS OF HOW GREAT HE CAN MAKE TROUBLES! HIS TROUBLEMAKING MAKE THE WORLD GO ROUND! HAH! BEAT THAT FEAT, ZEUS!

Err… Anyway, back to the topic…

So what should she do? Should she take part in what they want to do? To make the world's greatest troublemaker a humiliation, only to be taken down by three kids and a shy woman, not by the likes of the great Apollo, or his twin sister Artemis, or even Athena? Man, the gods must be enjoying the troubles he makes; they won't bother him at all. For once, the gods must be crazy.

Should his troubles backfire on him now?

"Neh, neh! Hinata-sensei!" Konohamaru pleaded, "Let's ambush him, PLEASE!"

Hinata sweatdropped.

She surely wasn't one of a troublemaker. Her simplicity can tell you that she can harm no one, unless in battle. The Hyuuga heiress is filled with dignity and honor. But why not make a little bit of trouble? It's not going to hurt, right?

Ding dong! Right!

"Fine, but this will be the first and last, okay?" Hinata leaned a bit and whispered to her students, "Okay, so what's the plan?"

The trio was delighted and so they talked.

A few minutes later…

"MORE BEEF RAMEN PLEASE!" Naruto told the father-and-daughter team running the place of Ichiraku.

"My, my, Naruto!" Ayame sweatdropped as she saw the huge pile of bowls beside him, "How many days have you not eaten?"

Naruto have noodles in his mouth when he replied, "Uhm… I wash beeshee thle rasht fyoo thays cho… hmm… mayvee avout… hmm… thix thays?" **(Ramen Language Global Translator Says: Uhm… I was busy the last few days so, hmm… maybe about… hmm… six days?)**

Ayame may have not understood what he said but she caught the last two words: 6 days.

"Training, perhaps?" she asked.

He nodded as he sipped the soup of the ramen, piling the bowl up the tower of bowls.

"MORE PLEASE!" Naruto pleaded.

"Ayame, we don't have any more bowls. Go wash them." Ayame's father, Teuchi, said as he cooked more ramen.

Ayame reached for the wobbling tower of bowls as she tiptoed across the area, trying to make sure the tower won't fall. She then dropped the bowls into the prepared soapy bath in the deep sink, creating a splash that made her dripping wet.

"Welcome!" Teuchi greeted the customer seated right next to Naruto.

"Eh? Hinata-chan?" Naruto smiled, "Hungry?"

Hinata twiddled her fingers and said, "Huh? Uh… Uhm… Hmm… Err… Y-yes."

"What would it be, Miss?" Teuchi asked.

"M-Miso Ramen, p-please." Hinata replied.

"How are the kids doing?" Naruto asked with a grin from ear to ear, "I hope they're not causing you any trouble."

"_They are s-such persistent t-troublemakers, N-Naruto-kun."_ Hinata sweatdropped for a while.

"Oh, of c-course n-not, Naruto-kun," the pale-eyed woman smiled, "in fact, th-they're very g-good k-kids. They're p-pretty good in fighting t-too."

"Well, that's good news!" Naruto then pointed up his chopsticks, trying to make a point, "Because if I heard they're causing you much trouble, I'll teach them a lesson… especially when I officially become a Hokage. I told them to lose their troublemaker attitudes because their new sensei is a good friend of mine and is a girl, so they better be polite. And I think it was Moegi-chan who related more to that, because she's a girl."

She blushed when he said she was a good friend of his.

"Ayame, are you done yet?" Teuchi asked.

"Almost! I'm rinsing the bowls now!" Ayame replied.

"Neh, neh!" Naruto decided to chat with Hinata while waiting for his next bowl of ramen, "You know, Tsunade-baachan is a real snob! I was asking her what do when you try to talk your way out of a fight so there will be no more bloodshed and then she didn't answer me and threw a thick book at my face! And then…"

While Naruto was telling a story to Hinata, in the bushes…

"Konohamaru, in position." Konohamaru said through his walky talky.

"Moegi in position!"

"Udon, in position." And then Udon sneezed.

"SHH!" Moegi and Konohamaru said in unison.

"Oops, sorry." Udon replied.

"Are you sure our plan is going to work, Konohamaru?" Moegi asked.

"It should be perfect!" Konohamaru smiled proudly, "Look at them! Hinata-sensei and Naruto-sensei are enjoying each other's company! There's no way our plan can go wrong! By the way, Udon, is the main weapon ready?"

"Oh, you mean the rope with a stone on each end?" said Udon.

"Keep quiet! This thing is a Class-S mission!" Konohamaru reminded.

"REALLY?" Moegi said in a louder whisper, "BUT SINCE-"

"SHH!" Konohamaru went to were Moegi was hiding, making the bushes rustle and placed his hand over her mouth.

Naruto turned around and said, "I heard the bushes rustling."

"_Oh no!"_ Hinata remembered that her students were hiding behind the bushes.

"U-Uhm… It m-must be some c-cat, Naruto-kun…" Hinata commented as Naruto just decided to stay put on his seat, "You were s-saying?"

"Oh yeah, where was I?" Naruto tipped his chin, "And then Sakura-chan told me to go to the elder's office because I need to do some attendance…"

Konohamaru sighed and removed his hold from Moegi, "If Hinata-sensei didn't do that, then we could've blown our cover, Moegi!"

"Sorry." Moegi blushed, "As I was saying, since when did this plan become a Class-S mission? I mean, the Hokage-sama didn't tell us to do this, did she?"

Konohamaru smiled proudly, "I declare it a Class-S mission!"

Udon and Moegi sweatdropped.

"Once they receive their bowls of ramen, when they take their chopsticks, Udon, you throw the rope. Then, we'll barrage the fantastic weapons we got from that Jokers' Guild Store. They were a bargain, so why not use them, right?" Konohamaru pointed out, "Moegi, the waterguns, the paintballs, the sacks of flour, the Polaroid camera and the baskets of flower petals?"

"Waterguns – check. Paintballs – check. Sacks of flour – check. Polaroid camera – check. Baskets of flower petals – nice and fresh from the Yamanaka Flower Shop." Moegi replied.

"Hey, are those flowers removed of their pollen?" Udon asked, "I'm allergic to flowers with pollen."

"Hey, hey!" Konohamaru alerted, "The old guy is putting their ramens in their bowls! Get ready!"

"Udon, ready." Udon said as he grasped the rope, ready for action.

"Moegi, ready."

"Konohamaru, ready." Konohamaru replied, "Okay, first, we use the watergun. Then, we pour the sacks of flour. Then we'll barrage the paintballs. We'll celebrate by throwing the flower petals as confetti and then use the Polaroid camera to capture the moment!"

They all readied themselves when they saw Teuchi turning around, holding the two bowls of ramen.

"1…" Konohamaru counted off, "2…"

Teuchi placed the bowls in front of Naruto and Hinata. They both got their chopsticks and…

"3!"

Hinata tried to let out a shriek when she felt herself being tied with Naruto with a rope thrown out of nowhere. They were both tied waist to waist, immobile because of the firm put of the rope, secured by the two stones, automatically intertwining to make a quick lock.

But that wasn't the only thing locked…

Naruto and Hinata were blushing all hues of red known to mankind as their lips were firmly locked together. They pulled from the kiss and muttered shyly, "S-Sorry…"

"Ready! Aim! Fire!" Konohamaru counted off as he and his teammates fired a stream of water towards Naruto and Hinata who were trying to free themselves.

"Moegi, flour, now!" Konohamaru commanded as he emptied the huge watergun.

Moegi dropped her watergun and reached for two bags of flour and threw them at Naruto and Hinata.

Now, Naruto and Hinata are sticky with water and flour.

"Udon, paintballs, now!" Konohamaru commanded.

Immediately, Udon threw various colors of paintballs: red, blue, yellow, green, violet and orange.

"Moegi and Udon, flower petals, GO!" Konohamaru instructed as he dropped his watergun and reached for the Polaroid camera.

Moegi and Udon stood at either side of the helpless couple and showered flower petals around the two.

"Smile!" Konohamaru said as he took a picture of the masterpiece he and his teammates made.

The Polaroid picture came out and he took it, shaking it off.

"That wasn't so bad after all, neh, Hinata-sensei?" Konohamaru told her with a big grin.

"B-But-" Hinata was cut off by Naruto.

"EHHH! YOU WERE WITH THEM DOING **THIS** TO US?" Naruto exclaimed at Hinata.

"W-Well, it was o-only supposed to b-be you wh-who was supposed to be p-pranked! I didn't know I w-was also included!" Hinata reasoned.

Konohamaru looked at the pitiful candid picture of Naruto and Hinata.

"Neh, neh, Naruto-sensei, didn't you tell us that you want to get tied with Hinata-sensei?" Konohamaru teased, "You would allow yourself to be dumped with freezing water, even dive into a pool of flour and make yourself look like a clown by putting on all colors at the same time, just to rain down flowers for her?"

"T-Tied w-with m-me?" Hinata asked, "Y-You mean… M-M-M-Marry me?"

"Well, I sure did wish I can do that one day." Naruto explained but then he widened his eyes when he realized what he just said, "ERR… NOTHING!"

Hinata, amidst the splashes of color on her face, still blushed a hot pink on her cheeks after Naruto's reply.

And then Naruto turned to his 'disciples', "AND YOU DIDN'T GET THE POINT OF WHAT I SAID! YOU TOOK IT LITERALLY!"

"Yeah, so what difference does it make?" Konohamaru showed the candid picture, "At least for once we granted one wish for you before you become a Hokage! And you get to kiss Hinata-sensei!"

"WHY YOU LITTLE!" Naruto amazingly got out of the ropes and started chasing away Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi, who were now running at full speed.

"Uhm, Miso Ramen?" Ayame offered.

"How a-about a t-towel, please?" Hinata asked, as she got out of the ropes, too.

"Oh no, we don't have towel ramens here." Ayame replied.

The Hyuuga heiress just sweatdropped, _"What w-would Otou-san tell m-me if I enter th-the compound l-looking like **this**?"_

A familiar picture flew at her feet. She bent down and picked it up and giggled at the candid picture.

… Well, troubles can make the world go round, at least for Naruto and Hinata, the world's most wonderful troublemakers!  
--- --- --- --- ---  
_Next on Unspeakable Blues:_

**If you love someone, then you should always believe in that person. If he goes, then you should never lose hope that one day, he'll come back for you. But not for Haruno Sakura, who had given up hoping for Uchiha Sasuke's return… only to prove that she was wrong for believing that Uchiha Sasuke would never come back, because when he did, he did it for her, but then again, he questions her faith.**

**Unspeakable Blues Segment 4 of 4: _Unfathomable Faith_ **_(Sasuke x Sakura)_

"**_If I only knew how to 'shut up' back then, then I would have been a really happily married person right now."_  
-Haruno Sakura**


	4. SasuSaku

**_DISCLAIMER:_ I do not own Naruto. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto-sama. I'm contented with making fanfictions of Naruto, PERIOD.

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**_SPECIAL DEDICATIONS:_ I want to dedicate this to everyone who supported Homebound from the very start, to the ongoing, and will continue their support until the finish. Most especially now that it's nearing its anniversary, the readers from day 1 of Homebound, until the nth day of Homebound, I thank you so much for your support.**

**I also want to dedicate this to everyone who read this oneshot collection from start to finish. I love you all, mwah!

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------------ Unspeakable Blues Segment 4 out of 4: ------------

**Unfathomable Faith**  
**By: Gensomaden-Saiyuki**  
_Sasuke x Sakura

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A tired medic-nin sat on a bench under a cherry blossom tree at a full-moon night. The moonlight was on her back, but it had reached her face somehow, creating silver lines on the border of her face. Due to her extreme exhaustion, she felt like she had her temper snapped and she had punched a hundred, no, even thousands of her blonde-haired teammate, who had the reputation of being the number one loudmouth ninja in Konoha.

There had been quite a lot of Ninja Academy kids surged into the hospital today. They all ate a semi-poisonous mushroom from their cafeteria. Oh and some of the teachers were in there too, since they also ate the mushrooms.

The Ninja Academy's cafeteria wasn't aware that the appetizing mushroom meal they served to the kids and the teachers earlier were poisonous. So as a result, tummy aches and puking were the complaints of the victims.

She had been rushing to the children's aids from left and right, since noon of that day until sundown. She was really exhausted. Using her very own special jutsu to extract the poison out of a person's body, she had used all of her chakra and not to mention that she, Shizune and Tsunade were the only ones capable of doing such a jutsu. Other medic nins just aided them, taking care of the children still unattended, prescribing medications for those who ate lots of the mushrooms but are cured, some are enlisting the names of all the people in there, so the Konoha Hospital can put a list of the hospitalized people outside the gates, where crowds of concerned parents and relatives are frustratingly ranting and walking back and forth, completely blocking the main entrance of the hospital.

Tsunade and Shizune have left the rest of the job to her four hours earlier. They have to return to the Hokage Tower for them to be able to resolve the poisoned-mushroom-in-a-Ninja-Academy's-cafeteria incident. They were going to investigate on the mushroom and put up a notice that the cafeteria people should inspect and know where the mushrooms came from.

And leaving the rest of the job to her means there are still many to cure. Like what was mentioned earlier, there are only 3 people who can take out a poison from a person's body using a special jutsu named Dokumeki no Jutsu (Poison Extraction Technique). And being the only one who can cure the many kids in pain due to something familiar they stuffed in their mouths, which they didn't know was poisonous, leaves her to a bigger responsibility of taking care and extracting the poison out of the children's fragile growing bodies.

Now, the job was done and her chakra was at the zero mark. If there was even a negative mark, then it would've been pulled down to the maximum negative mark due to her exhaustion. She couldn't handle the musty smell of kids who have probably played and trained under the sun for too long, all stuffed in one area, so she needed to drag herself out of the hospital, using only her remaining willpower and her one percent stamina left to finally get her butt on a free bench under a cherry blossom tree.

Ah yes, fresh air, at last! The night breeze gently blew the worn out medic nin's long, silky soft, petal locks around, partially masking her beautiful matured face, the pink cherry blossom petals dancing around her. If you were in front of her, you might have mistaken her for a geisha. But no, she's too witty to become one. And she didn't want to become one, hehe.

She sighed as she took in the fresh air, the cool night breeze. She closed her eyes for a while; maybe getting her chakra even to just level one would be fine. She just had to relax. She peeked open her left eye slowly, hovering at her surroundings from left to right to see if someone was there.

Her left eye rested on her relaxed shadow on the cemented road in front of her. Her right eye followed to open as she tried to get at least ten percent of her chakra back. She was sensing something… or someone, watching her.

Ever since she had been a medic nin, other countries had acknowledged her strength, her intelligence, her power, her wisdom, her tremendous chakra control, let's also include her beauty and her wits and oh why not, her infamous short temper: the majority of these characteristics she inherited from the great Godaime Hokage, who was her mentor. And because this pink-haired medic nin was known as the apprentice of the most powerful ruler in the ninja world, assassination plots have been countless. Her assassination might probably cause the downfall of Konoha while the Hokage mourns for her novice. Lots have tried to assassinate her but they all ended up being beat down to a bloody pulp by the same person they were trying to kill. All her killers are now in the ANBU Headquarters' deepest and darkest dungeons; thanks to her err… fists, kicks, jutsus and whatever or however those idiots ended up there.

Tsunade had suggested that she should have bodyguards, but this woman had proven she can take care of herself. Those suffering bastards, who tried to kill her, who were almost dead when they reached the ANBUs, are the ultimate proof that her fists can kill even the most professional assassin. Yes, those people who dared harm this walking ticking time bomb are considered idiots, and if they get caught by her, oh hell, they're not only idiots; they're one heck of unlucky idiotic bastards.

But she always knows… that amidst her strength and power, her knowledge and wisdom, her keenness and sensitivity, one idiot might actually kill her. But she won't let that happen, that's why she treats every person who tried to kill her as if they were really going to succeed in their assassination plot.

And the aura she was feeling now, she knows that this assassin might not be one to be classified as an 'idiot'. It was a bizarre feeling that sent chills all over her body, telling her that this one right now came at the right time, at a time when her body is begging for rest, so he was methodical… and she hoped that this one can land a spot on her unlucky-idiotic-bastards-who-tried-to-kill-me list.

She was still relaxed on her seat, since she was a medic nin, she knew how to pretend to breathe like she was asleep. So she did, as she tried to specify where the weird aura was coming from.

It surely was bizarre… how terrifying, she can feel this person's aura everywhere!

Then, eight kunais were hurled on her back in a nanosecond without her knowledge. Her body fell on the pavement, lifeless.

The killer seemed to be confused. He got out of his hiding place and approached the dead body of the bleeding pink-haired woman. And he heard news that she was terribly strong? Hah! In a snap of his fingers, she was dead! How ironic!

He crouched down and tilted the head of the medic nin. As soon as he realized that she had used the Kawarimi no Jutsu and that the blood on the back of this sandbag puppet was only tomato sauce, it was far too late. He felt a cold metal weapon on his throat. Indeed, this woman had the reputation to be called the Godaime Hokage's dear student.

"Trying to kill me?" Haruno Sakura asked the hooded man inspecting her Kawarimi. She was standing on top of him, as he froze onto his crouching position, which was very much uncomfortable to him.

She then pulled her killer's hood down and sighed, rolling her eyes, "I knew it."

The spiky raven-haired man was her killer. It's not a surprise to her anymore. Her unfathomable faith for this man was long gone, she killed it along with all her weaknesses, making her an unarguable equivalent of her mentor… or even a student who had surpassed the skills of the Godaime Hokage.

"It's not a surprise anymore. I knew one of these days you would kill annoying little ole me." She said sarcastically, "You've been gone for years and look, I didn't even break a sweat pointing a kunai on your throat. And they call you a prodigy? Hah! Tell that to the brainless!"

"Ah, so you're annoyingly cocky now." His deep masculine voice replied.

"Don't I have a right to be 'annoyingly cocky'?" she asked, "Just surrender. I've had enough for the day."

"Why are you asking me to surrender? Is it because you're tired already?"

"No, because fighting you would be pointless." She then withdrew her weapon and walked away, "Go home to your master; you're not welcome here anymore. Otogakure is your hometown, am I right? So go home."

Uchiha Sasuke faced his changed teammate, no, ex-teammate, but the only sight he caught was her back, slowly getting away from him.

"Is it your payback?" Sasuke smirked, "Because I didn't listen to you?"

"I have no more personal grudge against you, traitor." She replied as she continued walking, "Now that I think of it, it's a good thing you didn't listen to me."

"Hn."

"You want to know why?"

"Why?"

"That's because I thought of nothing but myself at that time." Sakura continued to walk away from him, but he soon tailed her, "If I only knew how to 'shut up' back then, then I would have been a really happily married person right now."

That silenced him and hurt his heart a bit. Yes, a bit.

"Too bad… I still have to look for a husband." Sakura continued, "And I'm in my mid-twenties now… Damn, I don't want to grow old alone like Tsunade-sama."

He somehow, yes, SOMEHOW, managed to sigh in relief.

Although she had considered that she had killed her unfathomable faith, looks like it had been resurfacing.

"Then I'm not leaving anymore." Sasuke stopped on his tracks, "I'm looking for a wife."

"Why? So that you can screw her and have kids?" Sakura mocked.

"No," he answered, "I'm looking for someone to love."

Now that one tugged a smile at Sakura's lips. She also stopped at her tracks. She heard his light footsteps slowly approaching her.

"Eh? Then why did you try to kill me?"

"To get your attention." The onyx-eyed man replied, "I knew you were going to do that."

"Eh? How'd you know?"

"If you haven't had any improvements at all after all these years, I'll be darned that you're still the annoying wimpy Sakura." Now, Sasuke was just a step away from her, smirking evilly, "But deep down inside, I secretly loved that annoying wimpy Sakura."

"Eh? So you learn how to feel now?" Sakura turned around to meet his eyes, "Oh snap, now you can see me! Hell must've frozen over! Or perhaps, subconsciously, I poisoned myself with those mushrooms those troublesome kids ate."

He stepped forward and brushed his lips against hers. These two long lost lovers shut their eyes closed as the night breeze blew through their hairs and the moon's rays shining down on them like a hazy spotlight under the starry night sky.

They pulled out from the kiss; both had content smiles on their faces.

"Are you sure you won't leave me anymore?" Sakura asked.

"If your faith in me is still unfathomable, then I'll stay for sure." Sasuke replied; as he found himself lost in those emerald orbs he so loved, "I love you, Sakura."

"Then unfathomable it is. Welcome home, Sasuke-kun. Eheh, I love you, too." Sakura smiled as she pulled down Sasuke for another kiss.

**THE END**


End file.
